"That wasn't what you were going to say," he countered. "Now shut up."

I smiled and closed my eyes again, flinching slightly when the biggest needle on this side of Texas was poked into my veins.

"Jesus," I opened my eyes to glare at Booth. "Did you really have to use the biggest needle you had?"

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Actually," he said. "I used an eighteen gauge on you. I could've gone bigger if you'd wanted me to, though."

I wrinkled my nose at him.

"Do you think I have anything broken?" I asked him.

His eyes went serious.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "There's a very good chance that you do. If nothing else, we know you have a concussion."

I pursed my lips.

"Will you wipe my nose?" I asked him.

He did.

"Blow," he ordered.

I did.

"That's kind of weird," my mother offered. "I don't think your father has ever blown my nose."

"That's 'cause you're weird," I told her.

It was a great comeback, let me tell you.

My mother chuckled, leaning forward to look over me.

"You were almost killed," she looked into my eyes, grief all encompassing.

"I wasn't, though," I argued. "I was gearing up to really put a hurting on him."

My mother snorted.

"Yeah, that's exactly what it looked like when you were curled in the fetal position," she said dryly.

I shrugged.

"I was getting to it," I muttered. "I'm Superman, after all."

"Is that right?" She asked.

I smiled.

"No one's ever seen him and me in the same room, you know," I explained.

She rolled her eyes.

"Her vitals are a little low," Frank offered his two cents. "Still within the normal range, but definitely on the low side."

Booth grunted in reply, making me turn to study him.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he growled.

I closed my eyes.

Then, fell into a drug induced sleep.

Booth Masen: I miss you I smiled as I looked down at my phone, but it was wiped off moments later when I looked at Luke as he walked towards the station.

I crossed my arms, but my phone buzzed again, making me take a quick glance at it.

Masen: Sorry, that was my vagina.

I snorted, typing out a quick reply, then returned my attention back to the man that was now standing in front of me.

"You ready to talk now?" He wanted to know.

I nodded, not saying anything.

"Got the camera pictures," he held his hand up, showing me the memory card. "I sent them to your email if you're interested in seeing them," Luke added.

I nodded again, still not saying anything.

"Tai told me that they're holding her overnight," Luke continued.

I nodded in agreement.

"I also have a neighbor two doors down from the Crisfield's residence that has a live camera feed on his house because he's been having packages come up missing over the last couple of weeks," he fisted his hand. "I've asked him for those, but he's had to call the company to request them, and expects them to get back to him within a couple of hours."

That was the best news I'd heard since I'd left the hospital and the doctor said Masen would be just fine.

"Okay," I clipped. "Now what?"

"Now you get your protection since it's no longer petty theft," he apologized.

"She doesn't need protection anymore. I'll do it or one of my boys will do it. What you need to do is figure out who the fuck did this," I countered, slightly annoyed.

But I couldn't help it.

If Luke had done something instead of saying his hands were tied, then we wouldn't be in this position right now.

I wouldn't have had to run a call on my woman only hours before, scaring about twenty years of my life off of me.

"I understand," Luke sighed. "I'll keep you updated on our progress. I just wanted to touch base with you, and keep you in the loop."

I grudgingly offered him my hand.

"Thanks," I grunted.

"You're welcome," he said, turning to go.

"What would you do had it been your wife?" I asked.

He shook his head, turning around long enough to say, "I don't know. I can say that I'd do whatever the fuck I had to do to figure out who was behind this."

"And you'll let me?" I asked him.

He nodded. "I would expect nothing less. Just don't get caught doing anything stupid."

I grinned. "Got it."

With one final visit to Masen to ensure she was sleeping, I went to the neighbor's house that had the live camera feed and waited.

What I should've been doing, however, was watching over my soon to be wife and not fucking around waiting.

If I had been, I would've been there to protect her from the sick fuck that came after her a second time.

Chapter 20.

People need to understand the difference between want and need. Such as I want a shapely ass, but I need that supersized fry.

-Masen's secret thoughts Masen My eyes, swollen as they were, opened what little they could.

When I'd been beaten with the bat earlier, one hit had rained down on the top of my head before I could fully get it covered. I'd been left with swelling that started to overtake my face, even though I hadn't actually been hit in the face.

The sound of the door opening and then closing had me turning my head, making me thankful that they'd finally taken the collar off my neck, enabling me to do so.

I tried to focus my eyes, but it was dark in the room, and the only lights were coming from the hallway through the cracks of the closed door.

I could vaguely make out a black shape, making my heart start to race.

"Booth?" I asked, sounding hopeful.

"Wrong," a man's voice said.

A familiar one, but I couldn't place it.

"Who are you?" I asked.

Then something covered my mouth, and I breathed in to scream out of reflex, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do.

The towel that was over my mouth had something on it, and in the next instant I was out of it.

I came awake slowly, almost as if I was still under but not quite.

What had woken me?

Then I heard it again. Shuffling.

"Hello?" I asked.

Everything hurt.

I patted around on the bed I was laying in, but I didn't find the button that would call the nurse.

I'd always wanted to be on this side of the bed, not because I wished myself sick, but because I always wondered what it would be like to have someone at the other end of my button.

But I didn't find the button.

In fact, I didn't find anything.

Not the phone that'd been there earlier. Not the bedding that Booth had piled on top of me before he'd left to go to the neighbor's house. Not even the water bottle he'd been sure to leave at my side.